The atmosphere in Naruto's house was incredibly awkward as the three residents sat in a triangle facing one another. Awkward as it was, this conversation really needed to happen. Honestly it probably should have happened earlier, but two of those residents had been too oblivious and the third was too ashamed and mortified to imagine talking about this with the others.
"So…" Naruto tried to coax conversation out of the girl.
The blonde girl blushed darker and buried her hands further into her hands causing the other two to sigh.
"Lucy, it's not that big of a deal. I feel like we are partially to blame anyway." Erza tried to calm the girl down.
"Why do I get the feeling she saw something she shouldn't have?" Naruto asked out loud.
Sai laughed softly. "Well if she did, it would be the second time that she gets to experience it."
Lucy turned a bright shade of red recalling the intimate moment she'd been forced to listen to and just like in the book, buried her face in her hands.
"Can we just not?" She begged
"What? No, no, no. This is your house. I just can't believe that I…" she buried her head in her hands in abject embarrassment yet again.
"I mean, I think Erza and I should be flattered, or I guess at least one of us should be." Naruto said flippantly.
Lucy groaned into her hands when she saw Erza nodding. Really the two were taking this way too well. If they had been annoyed or angry or something at least then she would have felt like she wasn't abusing their hospitality to incredible levels.
"You've lived with us for over a month-" Erza began.
"Over two now actually." Naruto chimed in.
"Thank you, you've been living with us for over two months and Naruto and I haven't slowed down in our activities in the slightest. We haven't been very considerate of you." Erza comforted her friend.
"Really can't keep it in your pants can you Naruto?" Tsunade asked with a disapproving look.
Naruto shrugged. It wasn't his fault. If he had someone like Erza back home, the two would never leave his house. It was no wonder that version of him didn't stop.
Luckily, Erza wasn't going to sit by and let Naruto get grilled. "It's partially my fault as well. Most of the times I initiate. Lucy, I'm sorry for what you're going to hear in the future."
Lucy sweat dropped. Erza was basically saying they would still do it but now apologized ahead of time.
"I need a new place to live." She groaned.
"Really it's my fault, I can blame a little bit on my magic increasing my…I'm gunna call it vibrancy, and I was already a bit of a horndog. I have trouble controlling that urge with someone willing close at hand.'' Naruto said.
"It's true, honestly we'd do it more often but I can't handle going over and over again." Erza said with a shrug. She wasn't ashamed of it, her boyfriend was inhuman when it came to stamina. All types of stamina.
Lucy nearly choked on her spit as the conversation took a very weird turn. Despite herself she felt it was important to return to the topic at hand.
"You two can't be okay with what I did. I was…" She couldn't even bring herself to say it.
"Touching yourself while listening to us have sex…we know and like I said it's a bit flattering, kinda weird but flattering." Naruto responded.
Lucy wished the ground would swallow her up at that moment. She could feel the blushing stares from Natsu and Gray.
"Stop imagining it!" She yelled at them.
The two magic users looked away but both still had images of what Lucy potentially looked like doing the deed.
He hadn't expected something so crazy from the girl after she moved in. It had been a bit of a sudden thing but he didn't mind having Lucy in the house. The way Erza had talked about what she wanted to say to Lucy just made him excited at the prospect. Lucy was really misreading the situation, which he found funny considering what happened when she had moved in.
Flashback
"Wait and be ready… tell me you see where I'm coming from. How can he tell me to just wait and be ready?" Naruto complained to Erza as they lounged together on the couch after dinner.
"Well, he is already dealing with the council breathing down his neck. It's probably best we don't draw too much attention to the guild by trying to tell people the council is covering up demon attacks." Erza calmed him down.
"I know, I know, it's just he seems more caught up with that idiot running Phantom Lord. They've been trading insults and master just seems so focused on his next reply that everything else is secondary." Naruto said.
"Yeah I can imagine how frustrating that could be." Naruto said. Having problems to deal with while someone is focused on the wrong thing would have anyone in a bad mood.
Makarov frowned. He knew the council was full of idiots but he swore not to get caught up in banter like he seemingly was here. There were things to deal with.
"You know that's not true." Erza glared at her lover.
Naruto frowned but blew out a sigh. "I know, but I just feel so…ugh."
"Frustrated?" She offered.
"Yeah, pretty much." He nodded.
"Well, you seem stuck in mission mode. Always on edge. Aggressive. Have you thought about taking a real break, I mean a full vacation?" Erza asked, thoughts of the two of them enjoying time together on a beach was enticing.
"That does sound pretty nice but with all of this stuff happening, wouldn't it be better to stay taking missions to try and at least minimize the damage that the demons can do?" Naruto wondered aloud.
"Well, I still say that you, no. I say that we need a vacation. Until then though, maybe a little stress relief is called for?" She whispered into his ear as her hand began to snake down toward the waistband of his pants.
"Well that's one way of taking the edge off." Gray muttered. He felt envious of the blond. Not because he had Erza, but because he had someone period.
In a rare display of camaraderie Natsu patted the young man's back. "One day"
Just as Naruto grinned and began sliding his own hands up underneath Erza's shirt a frantic knock at the door broke their concentration causing both of them to groan.
"Someone had better be in the middle of a crisis or dying otherwise they are about to be…" Erza growled as she went over and yanked open the door.
Erza and Lucy, who had been the one knocking at the door blinked at one another for a moment. Erza was a bit shocked that Lucy was at her front door at night dressed in a nightgown and holding a few bags with a couple more piled beside her.
Lucy was a bit shocked to see Erza dressed in a cutoff tank top with obviously no bra on and a very thin thong with nothing else on. The situation for the blonde got worse as Naruto came around the corner into sight of the front door dressed in nothing but a snug pair of shorts and a very clear indicator of what Lucy had interrupted when she arrived.
"Talk about bad timing." Sakura muttered. Her eyes were glued to the image of Erza in her tank and thong combo and couldn't help but feel self conscious. While plenty of people told her she was good looking, this woman was clearly on another level.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Lucy cried as Erza and Naruto shared a confused look.
That was about when Lucy recalled they were arguably the most shameless people she knew. Suddenly, staying at Naruto and Erza's place seemed to have a negative it didn't before but it still beat the street since it was too late at night and no one was left at the guild to get her into Fairy Hills.
"Lucy, what's going on?" Naruto asked.
"Oh, sorry I am just kinda in a crisis at the moment and need a place to stay for the night." Lucy said hanging her head at having to ask.
Naruto snorted slightly until Erza's elbow jabbed into his side.
"We'll be happy to take you in. What happened though?" Erza asked.
"My landlady evicted me before I could pay this time. I even have the money but she changed the locks and tossed my stuff out." Lucy explained.
"They don't even have a little grace period?" Sakura asked. Even in their world they were given a day or two after rent to get the money paid before evictions would happen. Though to be fair, it is much more difficult to evict shinobi.
Lucy shook her head. "They're super strict about that kind of stuff. And if I don't pay it on the dot, my chances of getting another place to rent goes down."
"That's terrible." Naruto said as he helped pick up some of Lucy's belongings.
"It's just for tonight though. I'll get set up with Fairy Hills tomorrow." The girl said as she grabbed the last of her things.
The two older mages looked at one another before looking at the blonde again.
"Lucy, there is an issue with that. Fairy Hills doesn't have all that much space. It's part of the reason I moved in here. The facilities there are okay, but it's better here." Erza explained.
"So, there isn't room for me to stay there?" Lucy asked.
"Well there kinda is. It's just there is still a price you have to pay and the rooms are smaller than your old place." Erza continued.
Lucy blinked for a moment as she thought about it and suddenly frowned deeply. She had already been charged an exorbitant amount for the apartment she had been staying in and it wasn't that large. To be moving into somewhere smaller for only a small reduction in price was not something she was looking forward to. Then again she didn't know what else she could do. She would hate to impose on the couple before her.
It went without saying that Fairy Hills was likely more expensive due to its good reputation than anything else. But that's how it worked everywhere.
"Reminds me of home." Naruto muttered with an annoyed tone.
Sakura raised an eyebrow. Usually her teammate only had good things to say about their home. "In what way?"
The previous Kage all looked to the blond with curiosity. They too knew he usually sang praises for Konoha.
Naruto looked back at them. "Come on. Konoha is nice but the prices for places to live are ridiculous. I can get a house twice as big in Kiri for probably half the price."
Tsunade rolled her eyes. Naruto was a genius in battle but didn't seem to know how housing worked.
"And where would you be? In the middle of a lake somewhere, that's where."
"I'd be a walk away from the Mizukage tower. Not a bad gig if you ask me." Naruto relied triumphantly.
Hashirama, feeling the need to defend the village he cofounded cleared his throat. "Perhaps but is being that close to the Mizukage tower worth missing out on the greatness Konoha has to offer?"
"Have you seen Mei, err excuse me, the Mizukage?"
Tsunade narrowed her eyes at the slip of the tongue and they narrowed further seeing the men in the area nod. Even the guys from Fairy Tail nodded as an image of the woman appeared in front of everyone.
"I'd do it if I were you." Gray chimed only to slump in his seat when Erza looked over at him.
"You'll stay with us. Just pay for some food and help with utilities. We don't pay rent anymore. I own all of this place now." Naruto said with a nod.
"There are plenty of extra rooms too. You can even have the one across the hall from us." Erza agreed.
"Wait, guys! I don't want to just invade like this." Lucy said worriedly.
"Nonsense. You are our friend and teammate. We trust you to stay with us." Erza argued back.
From there on the girl couldn't really convince them otherwise and they quickly got her moved in with all her belongings across the hall from them. It was later in as well so they all decided to turn in and talk about more details in the morning. At least Lucy wanted to go to sleep. Naruto and Erza however had other plans. Intentionally or not, Lucy found she couldn't attempt to sleep at all with the sound of rhythmic thumping and moans of pleasure.
When she had finally fallen asleep, however, it only got worse for her. Her dreams filled with the sounds from across the hall, but it wasn't Erza calling out Naruto's name and writhing in his grasp as he took his pleasure from her body. It was Lucy herself.
As if the embarrassment from earlier wasn't enough, now this.
Erza looked over at the girl with a strained smile. It wasn't her fault she had those dreams but still. No one liked knowing a friend was getting off to their significant other.
"It's ok Lucy. That hasn't happened yet." She tried. Her words worked momentarily as Lucy looked up.
When she woke up again she found herself in a sour mood and frustrated body but put up a front as the cheery Naruto welcomed her into the house more officially with breakfast. Erza evidently would be stuck in bed for a while longer as she had been overstimulated the night before.
That had been the first night after coming to stay with the couple. It has been the same every single day since then.
End Flashback
"What happened to shame?" Makarov asked with a disapproving shake of his head.
Mira chuckled at the aghast look on Ezra's face. "Come on master, what else are they supposed to do? They've gone without each other for so long."
Tobirama, with his stoic facade still in place, responded. "Train. Get stronger. There's more to life than sex after all."
The First Hokage looked at his brother with a frown. While he usually played the part of the happy go lucky man, he was still observant and knew how his brother spent his down time during his tenure as Hokage.
"Hypocrite." He mumbled.
"I can start looking for a new place. You guys are really sweet for underplaying it like this but it isn't okay that I did what I did." Lucy said with self loathing. She was a bit disgusted with herself still.
"It's a completely natural thing to do Lucy." Tsunade consoled. "It's just that this idiot has no self control." She added, motioning to Naruto.
"You are really misunderstanding. We aren't trying to be polite, we are trying to ask you out." Erza said with a warm smile.
"You…what? I'm sorry, just what?" Lucy asked.
Naruto and Erza glanced at one another and grinned faintly.
"I'm not super into girls but I was trying to explain earlier. I can't handle Naruto alone and I honestly don't mind sharing. Especially with someone I consider a close friend." Erza explained.
"Wait, are you literally asking me out? I…" Lucy stammered.
"Yes we are. Listen, this is awkward for us too." Naruto said.
Gray seriously had his doubts. They were far too calm about this for it to be believable.
Erza listened to her future self with a frown. She liked Lucy, and she would certainly allow her to live with them if she needed it, but sharing a house and sharing her man were two completely different things.
She couldn't handle Naruto alone? She scoffed.
Grabbing Naruto by the front of his shirt, she pulled him over to her until this ear was next to her mouth. "That book doesn't know what it's talking about. I can definitely handle you alone."
Naruto resisted the urge to shiver from her hot breath hitting his ear. Erza either ignored that he wasn't hers or had completely forgotten. He couldn't blame her though as he was a perfect copy of the man.
'Then act like it!' Lucy mentally shouted at the man.
"Take time to think about it Lucy, no pressure. You are our friend and guildmate first but we like you so the door is open for something more if you decide you're interested." Erza said calmly, patting the blonde on her hands and leading Naruto out of the room to get ready for the day.
'What the hell is with the strong people in Fairytail?' Lucy wondered as she groaned into her hands.
Still as weird as it felt to be asked into an already existing relationship…she couldn't help but feel the desire to throw caution to the wind. She needed to talk to Levy, the petite girl had become a fast friend at Fairytail and she would be able to help her think through this clearly. Lucy was a bit worried the embarrassment and pent up feelings from the last two months would make her make a poor decision without consulting a second opinion.
Sakura withheld a chuckle. So far, Lucy seemed to be the only rational person in that guild. She knew what it was like to work with strange people. Hell her team was proof of that.
"I'm sure things will work out Lucy." Sakura said. "Not everyone can be like that, right?"
"…"
"Right?"
Her question went unanswered.
'Of course team Shadowgear will be gone for the week on a mission. I should have expected that honestly.' Lucy silently complained as the lunch rush buzzed about in the main hall of the guild.
So much for the plan to talk with Levy about what she should do. Instead Lucy had to content herself with mulling over her thoughts about the situation in her head. It weirded her out that her impulse wasn't to refuse…it was the opposite really. In fact what held her back the most was she didn't want to feel like a third wheel. Erza outclassed her seemingly in every way. Lucy considered her more beautiful, more powerful, and more capable than she could ever be. Plus she'd been told the pair of Fairy Royals joined the guild together. She couldn't truly become a part of that…could she?
She was liberated from her own thoughts as Natsu thumped down into the seat across from her. He was clearly frustrated and a bit down. Lucy had never seen him pouting so hard before.
"What's going on with you?" She asked, against her better judgement.
"Nothing." Natsu grumbled before Happy landed on the table and giggled.
"He's all mad cause he can't go on an S class mission without Naruto and Erza, but if he goes with them there is nothing left for him to really do." Happy explained.
Natsu huffed. It wasn't fair.
"We've been over this Natsu." Makarov chastised for what seemed like the millionth time.
"What good is going on a mission if I don't do anything on it?" He complained. "How am I supposed to get stronger if I don't get to fight anyone?"
Naruto could somewhat relate to the man. It had been similar for him back in the day. But he also knew it was better to know your limits. Had he tried the wave mission himself, he wouldn't be here today.
"It's not fair, I could totally ace the S class exam if they held them again." Natsu complained.
"Naruto and Erza are S class and they beat you up like it's a warm up workout." Lucy said with a deadpan.
"Wow, Lucy something good must have happened to you cause you are being really generous." Happy laughed.
"Shut up Happy…jerk." Natsu snapped before huffing.
The trio fell into silence before Happy turned to look at Lucy. "Hey, you actually seem bummed out about something too."
"Oh, it's nothing really. Just I live with Naruto and Erza…" She stopped there. She was not about to talk about the details with Natsu and Happy of all people.
"Go on." Natsu drawled.
"Err, I am just feeling kinda weak lately I guess." Lucy said.
The boys went quiet and looked at one another before a grin spread onto Natsu's face. Lucy was immediately suspicious she was getting played somehow. Like Natsu and Happy were trying to rope her into something incredibly stupid.
"What did you two do?" She demanded.
"You mean what are we going to do." Natsu chuckled as he pulled out a job flier clearly labeled S rank.
"Oh no, no no no. You are not dragging me into another one of your hair brained schemes." Lucy said, waving her hands in front of her face as if warding off Natsu and Happy's plan.
Tsunade looked over at the two in question and shook her head with a sigh. She'd seen this play out more times than she could count. Lucy was about to be pulled into a hair brained scheme.
"Don't let him take you Lucy. You know how it'll end." Makarov pleaded.
Lucy wanted to point out that it wasn't her but refrained. It would do little good. She knew herself and knew that it was inevitable.
Naruto was more curious as to how Natsu would pull this off. Sweet talk her? Use money as an incentive?
"Oh, but you were just saying how you wanted to prove you were strong right?" Happy asked.
"This isn't what I was talking about!" Lucy hissed.
"But Lucy, look at the reward for the quest." Natsu said showing her.
Lucy didn't want to look but she was a bit curious. As the saying goes curiosity killed the cat.
"A Zodiac Key." Lucy mumbled.
"That's right." Natsu grinned.
"We really shouldn't." She weakly argued.
"Oh, alright I will just put it back I guess. Too bad. Then again I guess Naruto and Erza will be fine with you staying even if they don't consider you like them." Happy said in a faux sad voice.
Sasuke nodded approvingly. The cat knew how to manipulate someone. The look on future Lucy's face told the whole story, she was certainly going.
"A zodiac key?" He muttered shortly after.
"Like the 12 members of the group of the same name from that new story that was published back home." Sai commented.
"Is that any good?" Sakura asked, needing some new reading material.
"Very."
"A zodiac key is a spatial magic type of key that allows me to summon different warriors essentially. It's the kind of magic I use." Lucy informed.
The first two Hokage blinked. That sounded interesting. Their thoughts went to the tailed beasts immediately. Being able to summon them on a whim would've made someone a gargantuan threat back from their world.
While the cat was misunderstanding the actual issue between her and the power couple, there was enough of Lucy's own doubts wrapped up in what he was saying to break through her resistance.
"Fine, let's go." Lucy huffed already knowing she was going to regret this.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we got her." Natsu cheered, pumping a fist into the air.
"You don't think we came on a little strong?" Naruto asked Erza.
"Lucy's a big girl, I'm sure she can appreciate us being blunt and up front. Besides you saw how embarrassed she was about being caught. It has to be a relief to know we don't mind and are even interested in her." Erza replied as Naruto held the Guild hall door open for her.
"If you say so. I was a bit surprised when you suggested it though. You know I can-" Naruto began before Erza rolled her eyes causing him to stop.
"Naruto, I love you but you are a literal monster thanks to your magic. I hate the prospect of you not being fulfilled in every way and I don't know if it's because of how we were raised or what, the idea of you being with other girls doesn't bother me." She said with a simple shrug.
Naruto glanced at the redhead next to him. Her words earlier had given him the impression she wasn't for that.
"Thats the part I get hung up on. I mean, I can't stand the idea of you…" Naruto said with a frown.
"That's fine. Like I said, a big part of this is because you are too much for me. I really hope she accepts. I want to see you actually dropping out instead of me for a change." Erza said as they made their way over to the bar.
"This isn't just sex though, Erza. call me a romantic but I am not interested in casual sex. I wouldn't shie away from it I guess, but if I am having my way with a woman, I want her to be my woman." Naruto explained.
"You have the chance most men would kill for and are questioning it." Sai pointed out. "Maybe some of my words are still true after all."
Naruto lifted his middle finger so Sai knew exactly how he felt about him.
"I'm sorry I'm so loyal." Naruto huffed. "Hell, I don't even watch porn back home, I'm so loyal."
"So loyal that the porn you do watch doesn't include women?" Sai asked with a far too innocent grin.
Naruto grit his teeth and lunged forward only to be brought back by Ezra's hands on his waist.
"Relax." She said calmly. "He's just messing with you to get a reaction."
"That probably ties back into the whole possessive thing about you not wanting to share me but me being fine with sharing you. I wonder how much of that is related to your magic." Erza pondered aloud as she tapped her chin.
"Not much actually. The libido sure, I am pretty much always wanting to go at it. If this place wasn't packed I'd probably be playing with your skirt to get you to bend over one of these chairs." Naruto commented nonchalantly.
"That must be hard. I am still pretty out of it since we showered earlier. I don't think I could go for another day at least. That does make me curious though. Are you just naturally possessive, while I'm not." Erza asked.
"Hmm, I dunno. Here, try this. If I were to go have sex with someone without your permission, like say Lisanna how would that make you feel?" Naruto asked.
Erza hummed as she pondered that for a moment before a slightly sour look crossed her face. Naruto snapped and pointed at her.
"That wasn't a happy look." He commented.
"You really do have unnatural luck Naruto." Kakashi said. Why could he have women wanting to pass him around?
Naruto frowned. "I don't want to just be a walking dildo to people. I want them to want me for me and Vice versa."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. It was just sex.
"Yeah, no it kind of pissed me off even thinking about it." She commented with a confused expression.
"I get that feeling when I think of you and someone else. That and kinda sick. Like my chest and stomach hurt." Naruto replied.
"That's how I felt when I thought you died. Like I was actually ill. Oh my, you do love me!" Erza teased him.
"Yeah, well of course I do. Back to our conversation though. You dislike the idea of me sleeping with Lisanna, or simply sleeping with another girl without your permission, but as long as you bring in Lucy it's fine. So is it Lucy or is it the permission part that makes it okay?" Naruto asked.
"Definitely the permission part. Lucy is attractive enough, but I'm not into girls all that much. It kind of excites me, but more the thought of seeing you do that thing from last week to her. It's strange really when you had my leg up-" Erza stopped mid sentence as both noticed how quiet it had gotten as they spoke and turned to look at several guildmates staring at them with tomato red faces.
"I had forgotten you two were in public." Tsunade groaned. "What happened to shame?" She said parroting Makarovs words.
"It's an important conversation." Erza defended. "Who knows when we'd be able to talk about it."
Naruto groaned and covered his face. The second hand embarrassment he felt was overwhelming. It looks like his variant didn't care about what he said or when.
Talkin about sex with a friend while mentioning others wasn't something he would do back home. Of course he'd mentioned it with friends but that was in private environments. This really was shameless.
None were worse than Mira and Lisanna who were standing in front of the pair at the bar. They looked mortified at the topic the two had been discussing so brazenly. Neither Naruto or Erza felt all that bothered though, more annoyed by the focus on their conversation by literally everyone in the room. The two were incredibly shameless. Makarov knew why, there was essentially no privacy in the setting that both of them had grown up in and being raised in that environment would always carry strange habits for both of them.
Still, he drug the pair off to his office. It looked like he needed to lecture them both on what was okay and not okay to discuss in the guildhall. He never really thought he would be having the conversation with arguably his two most responsible wizards but they were the best examples of Fairy Tail wizards for a reason. That came with all the weird quirks and destructive tendencies as well.
The lecture was a short one. Especially when they had explained what had started it causing Makarov to very nearly have a heart attack at the thought. He couldn't help the jealousy he felt toward Naruto in the moment. Though he also had a bit of pity for him. The personal magics of every person affected them to their very being. It was just a part of their reality as wizards. Naruto's however made it to where even when he was repeatedly making love to Erza, one of Makarov's top two beauties in the guild, he couldn't be satisfied. The old man was only pitying for a brief amount of time before realizing that was only furthering his jealousy of Naruto's situation even further.
"Life truly isn't fair." Makarov muttered.
His guild members rolled their eyes. Sadly, most of the men from the shinobi side all agreed with him.
'It really isn't fair. I mean I can't even go a full round with Porlyuisca without taking my pills. And that old bat is as wrinkly and dried up as I am.' The Master bemoaned in his mind.
Natsu and Gray felt sick hearing that. No one wanted to imagine the aged master getting freaky with an equally aged woman.
Naruto glanced at Tsunade out of the corner of his eye to see her staring at him with a look that promised pain.
"If I even cross your mind in any way…" she threatened. Sadly her words had the opposite effect and he was forced to look away before he was discovered.
"Was that all you wanted to talk about with us old man?" Naruto asked, not really bothered by the lecture. On the other hand Erza was blushing faintly now having finally realized just how much they had shared with the guild at large earlier. She was worried she would never live it down. Naruto knew that they would never utter a word about it if they wished to continue breathing.
"Oh, no. I actually had something I wanted the two of you to look into. We might have a possible connection to the increase in the Demons of Zeref popping up across Fiore. My friend on the magic council forwarded the information to me because his hands are tied and he can't look into it as deeply as he feels it needs to be." Makarov explained as he drew a thick folder out of a box and placed it in front of the two young wizards on his desk.
"A girl?" Erza asked in surprise.
"A bit random I know, but she has some kind of connection to at least two resurrected demon cases that have been handled by the Rune Knights in the last month. Thankfully they were both extremely weak demons. Still the fact this woman was there is no coincidence. Be careful though. She cut through a squad of investigating Rune Knights like they were paper dolls." The Master insisted worriedly.
"We understand. We'll be careful. Just where are we headed to find her though?" Naruto asked.
"Ah, one of these three towns. Pelson Port, Lodwig Port, or Hargeon Port. There's been sightings in all three and each is used for smuggling and we think perhaps even piracy." The small man said.
"So a girl is causing all of this?" Hashirama wondered. "I wonder how exactly she's summoning these demons."
"Through some kind of spell most likely." The man's brother replied. "The question is whether she can summon and control them, or just summon them."
Both were equally terrifying thoughts for the Fairy Tail group. Someone capable of commanding these demons would need to be handled with the utmost urgency.
"Hmm, well I can take Pelson, you take Lodwig, and we meet in Hargeon if both are clear. We can use communication Lacrima to get in touch if we spot her and wait to overwhelm her together." Erza suggested.
"Sounds good. I can't shake that this is going to be a lot bigger though. She probably won't go down without a fight either." Naruto responded.
"True, but I prefer it that way." Erza grinned.
"That's my girl. Of course you do." Naruto said with a laugh as the two S class wizards began leaving.
"I will have a Lacrima with me in case we get any updates or you learn something new while on the mission. Either way, be very careful. Those towns are pretty peaceful but that doesn't mean that this girl or any others she has working with her aren't a threat to your health." Makarov reminded them.
"We know, Master. Still this needs to be stopped before more demons can be brought back and wreak havoc on Fiore and the other nations." Erza reassured him.
"Plus it's us. You can always count on us right?" Naruto asked.
"Of course I can. Now handle this mission and come back to enjoy time with the Fairy Tail family. Both of you have been spending too much time at home doing certain things. We all miss our Oberon and Titania once more." Makarov said with a fond smile.
"Well at least we'll finally see some action." Natsu said with a smirk. He was curious to see what kind of S class mission he managed to snag. If this really was the events of the future, he would know how to handle it better. Maybe he'd even be promoted to S class.
"I know what you're thinking Natsu, and you can forget it." Makarov said sternly. "You're not taking that mission when we get back."
"But gramps!" Natsu yelled. "What if I end up doing good on it?"
Mira couldn't help but feel doubt creep up within her. Natsu and good decisions didn't really go together. Wherever he was concerned, misfortune typically seemed to follow. And it seemed like this time Lucy would be pulled into it as well.
The pair left the office and quickly went back to their home to collect clothes and supplies. They weren't sure how long they would be gone specifically. That and neither was of the mind of being caught unprepared for some sort of change to the mission.
Makarov sighed as he sat on the bar back at the guild. The things Naruto had brought up had him worried. He had no desire to see Zeref's monstrosities wreak havoc on the world, or worse yet see the dark wizard returned to the land of the living.
Cults supporting that man remained to this day. If anything they had grown in number and power over time. Some of his children, especially Naruto and Erza, had already suffered terribly at their hands. He hoped that this girl Naruto and Erza would no doubt catch would help reveal how to stop more of these demons being awakened and set upon the world.
He trusted Naruto and Erza to work hard to put an end to this threat, sadly while he could count on them to do what was best for the guild, he could also always count on others doing something stupid.
"Master! One of the S rank quests has been stolen." Mirajane worriedly announced, catching the attention of everyone in the guild.
Mira's head swiveled to Natsu, who in the story had swiped a mission. The urgency in Mira's voice told them it must have been something important.
"Please tell me you didn't take something far beyond your capabilities, Natsu." The white haired mage pleaded.
"Knowing flame brain, he just grabbed one that paid a lot. I doubt he read what the job actually entailed." Gray muttered. Though he put up an annoyed front, in reality he really was worried for his friend. S classes were classified as such for a reason. They were difficult, and while strong, Natsu was nowhere near S class.
"Stolen?!" Several people cried in surprise.
"Who would steal a quest?" Someone asked. Everyone was silent for a while before they realized exactly who would.
"But how could Natsu get it? We would have seen him go up to the second floor right?" Lisanna asked worriedly. She didn't want to assume he was the fool to steal the quest but he really was the only one that would do something so reckless.
"It's sweet of her to give him the benefit of the doubt, but she knows full well it was him." Tsunade told her. Even if she'd only known the kid for a little while, she had a good idea of his personality. Even if they hadn't seen him take it, all signs pointed to him.
Natsu frowned but kept quiet. He would show them. He was confident the book would show him completing the mission.
"Hmm, so that was what Happy was doing." Laxus said calmly from the second floor with his feet kicked up onto a table.
The others turned to look at him. Mira stormed up to him glaring hotly, an expression that very rarely came to her face nowadays.
"Oh-ho, been a while since you looked at me with that kind of face." Laxus mocked.
"Laxus, why didn't you say anything if you saw them?" She demanded furiously.
"All I saw was a cat run off with a piece of paper. Didn't realize it was Happy until now." Laxus blatantly lied, causing Mira's angry face to only darken more as Lisanna also began glaring up at the man from her place behind the bar.
Naruto blinked, not even Kakashi would lie about something serious so blatantly. This Laxus guy was someone he knew would get on his nerves if he knew him personally.
"Is there a punishment for allowing this?" Hiruzen asked calmly.
Makarov shook his head and angrily looked at Natsu. "No, even though I don't believe my grandson, no one can prove otherwise so he can't be punished."
Tsunade glanced at Sakura who shrugged but both knew the older blond was full of it. What kind of cat was blue with wings? There was no way he didn't know. He was just lucky they weren't there otherwise he'd have been knocked out.
"What quest was taken Mira?" Makarov asked.
"The cursed island of Galuna quest. I think they roped Lucy into it too, she left before Naruto and Erza got here and they're roommates now." Mira said as she continued to glare at Laxus. She considered Natsu and Happy part of her family, like a little brother and nephew, honestly.
"I knew they were stupid, but to take a mission like that…" Alzack grumbled.
"And dragging the newbie into it. Those idiots." Bisca hissed. She hadn't really known Lucy yet but she had seen Natsu and Happy dragging her into missions she wasn't really ready for.
"Hmm, doing something like this would be grounds for expulsion from the guild when they get back. That is if they come back right, gramps?" Laxus said with a grin.
"Laxus! Go and get them! You're the only S class wizard available." Makarov ordered.
"Pass. They think they're good enough to take the quest on. Let em do it. If they die it's better for the guild that weak wizards are gone anyway." Laxus said getting disgusted looks from the others as well.
Hashirama frowned at the display. How could a comrade say something like that about one of their own? To wish for expulsion or grin at the thought of one of their own dying was beyond unacceptable.
"I don't know how to say this without sounding mean but your grandson is an asshole." Sakura told the aged master.
Makarov rubbed his face but couldn't find it in him to reply. As much as he wanted to defend his own blood, the young man made it difficult.
Fortunately, Erza responded for him. "He is."
"What about Naruto and Erza? They were here earlier." Lisanna said hoping to have her mentor and his lover save her own love and new friend.
"They left on an important mission already. I can't take them off of it unless absolutely necessary." Makarov said sadly. It was a hard decision but the mission to stop the resurrection of demons had to take priority. They could kill untold numbers of people if left unchecked.
"Then I guess I'll go." Gray said as he stood up.
"Are you sure Gray?" Makarov said worriedly.
"I'm one of the few people here who can force Natsu into anything. It has to be me." The Ice wizard said as he began to move toward the door.
Makarov didn't like it. He would still rather have someone far stronger than Natsu handle it. If Mira was still an active fighter he would send her in a heartbeat but she had been retired for years now and focused on modeling and helping him manage the guild.
"Fine." Makarov said with a sigh. "But you will get a communication lacrima from Mira and stay in touch. If I don't hear anything I will recall Naruto and Erza and send them after all of you."
"Understood." Gray said as he took the orb from Mira who seemed frustrated for some reason. The Ice mage couldn't dwell on it though and made his leave.
"I really hope you're able to get to them, Gray." Naruto said. "Leaving demons running around because someone decided to break the rules is just…" He trailed off with a shake of his head.
Gray nodded in agreement. "I know. I'm confident in myself though, I can do it."
In Hargeon Lucy, Natsu, and Happy were reminiscing as they made their way toward the docks. After all, Hargeon was where they had all met and eventually led to Lucy joining the guild.
"It's really nostalgic." Lucy said with a smile as she took in the town.
"I don't know about nostalgic…it hasn't been all that long since you joined the guild really." Natsu commented.
"It feels like a long time now though." Lucy replied.
"I've been in the guild since I was a kid. You know actually most of us have been. You're kinda the odd one out." Natsu commented, causing her to huff at that.
"Whatever, let's just find a ride to the island and get this quest over with." Lucy groused.
"We don't need a ship. We can just swim there." Natsu said as he trailed after her
"That's insane it's miles off the coast, we'd drown before we made it halfway." Lucy snapped.
"You, maybe." Happy chirped before fucking behind Natsu as Lucy shot him a deadly glare.
"I cannot believe I let you talk me into this nonsense. Ugh this better be worth it." She whined.
"To be fair you saw the money and went along with it. Wasn't so much them talking you into it." Naruto pointed out, only to have to raise his hands to placate the glare Lucy sent his way.
It wasn't like he couldn't see why she went, she needed money and having witnessed and done what she had, this must have seemed like a good idea at the time.
"Honestly a lot of this is the fault of the Fairy Hills rent person. Had they just waited a day, Lucy probably wouldn't have gone. Nor would she be listening to you two hormonal teenagers having sex on a daily basis." Tsunade told them.
Naruto just shrugged. If he had Erza back home, they probably wouldn't see him often either.
Things didn't really improve for the girl from that point on either. Every boat captain and ship skipper they asked flat out refused. Either it was bad luck, or the curse on the island, or they simply told them to swim for it in a rude manner. At least to Lucy it had been rude. Natsu had of course agreed that was the best course of action.
"We aren't swimming across the ocean!" Lucy shouted.
"Well, the last guy just said they don't talk about Galuna island in this whole port. Nobody is going to take us there. So how else are we gonna get there?" Natsu asked.
"Found you!" Gray said as he clasped his hands onto Lucy and Natsu's shoulders, causing both to scream in panic at the sudden surprise.
The two jumped away from him and spun around. Natsu jabbed a finger at his counterpart with a glare while Lucy and Happy caught their breath from the sudden shock.
"Gray!? What the hell are you doing here?" Natsu demanded.
"I've got orders from gramps to bring you back." Gray calmly replied.
"Gah, What?! The jig's up already?" Natsu shouted.
"If you go back now, you might even get away without being expelled." Gray grinned.
"Expelled!?" Lucy cried out.
Hashirama felt a twang of pity for the young woman. First she was expelled from her apartment, now she could potentially be expelled from the guild? She really couldn't catch a break.
"Natsu, if I get expelled from the guild you're dead." Lucy said with a venomous look.
The fire dragon slayer gulped, feeling fear for the first time. Lucy had been plenty mad at him before, but not like this.
Natsu shoved up into Gray's face with a snarl, causing the ice mage's grin to fall.
"As if, I'm going on an S class quest!" Natsu shouted.
"You ain't got the skills to handle it." Gray grumbled before his expression fell into a pale terror.
"If Naruto or worse…Erza find out about this you'll…" Gray said, causing all three of the others to panic slightly.
"Gray, Save me! The two of them forced me to come along!" Happy cried as she settled onto Gray's shoulders.
"You little traitor!" Lucy shouted.
Naruto laughed. He liked the little cat even if he was a coward.
"I'll be sure to put a leash on Happy if the events unfold the same way." Lucy muttered.
Sai smiled. "If events unfold the same way, you're going to be asked to participate in their sexual activities too."
Team seven sighed collectively. Leave it to Sai to bring that up again.
"I'll take Erza and Naruto head on! I'm not going to back down from this!" Natsu announced, only for Gray to shove into him, glaring right into his face.
"This is a direct order from the master. I'm gonna bring you back to the guild by force if I have to. Don't complain if you get hurt!" Gray shouted as he began activating his magic.
"You're on!" Natsu roared as his hand burst into flames.
One of the boat captains that had turned Natsu and Lucy down looked on in shock as the wizards brought up their spells. He didn't seem all that worried about the oncoming fight, more at the prospect of mages coming looking for passage to Galuna Island.
"Magic? Wait, are you all wizards? Are you actually here to lift the curse on Galuna island?" He asked.
"Yeah." Natsu said with a grin.
"Well, we were…" Lucy began awkwardly. With Gray here to take them back to the guild, she didn't want to get the man's hopes up.
"No. I won't let you go!" Gray declared to the other two Fairy Tail guild members.
"Good job Gray." Kakashi praised. "Sticking to the mission and keeping your comrades alive."
Gray felt uneasy. Something told him things wouldn't be this easy. They never were.
"I'm willing to bet they end up getting guilt tripped somehow into going or Gray gets talked into going with them by Natsu." Sakura challenged.
The man hesitated a moment before looking over at Lucy and Natsu again. "Get on board!"
Natsu cheered while Lucy was surprised by the sudden change from his earlier refusal. Gray however was having none of it. He refused to let them board the little boat. It was the Master's orders that they be brought back after all.
While he was turned to explain things to the boat captain, Natsu saw his chance and knocked the Ice mage out with a crack to the back of the head. The dark haired boy dropped like a sack of potatoes before Natsu hoisted him up onto his shoulder like some kind of bag.
"Heh, well I guess you win Lucy. We'll ride in this boat." Natsu said as he walked back over.
"What, we're just going to bring Gray with us?" Lucy asked.
"If this guy goes back to the guild then-" Natsu began to say, only for him to stop as a mumbling could be heard from Gray's pocket.
"He had the lacrima in his pocket." Sasuke recalled.
"Think the master was listening in?" Natsu asked, sending the master a worried look.
Blinking for a moment he pulled out a small orb only to freeze up as he realized what he held and the people looking back at him through the orb. Makarov and Mira both blinked in surprise at seeing Natsu's face before they narrowed their eyes at the unconscious form of Gray.
"Natsu! What did you-" Makarov began to shout only for Natsu to hurl the lacrima off into the water as far as he could.
"What are you doing?!" Lucy demanded.
"A quest. Come on!" Natsu cheered as he pulled her onto the boat and the odd little group started off toward the island. Despite Lucy's very worried negative thoughts about the whole thing.
"You are so lucky your master is soft on you." Tsunade muttered in shock at what she'd seen.
Naruto nodded. "If he was one of us I don't think he'd live much longer after he got back."
Makarov was practically red in the face in rage after what Natsu had done. Thankfully Mira was quick to act and moved most of the things around them out of the way so he wouldn't feel the need to smash anything up like the rest of the guild often did.
"What do we do now, Master?" She asked as the old man began to calm down.
"The only thing we have left to do I suppose. Use the Lacrima and notify Naruto and Erza what's going on. Their mission is important but not so important that they can't save those idiots from an early grave." Makarov ordered.
"Understood." Mira said as she began making the calls.
Soon Naruto and Erza would be coming for them, just as Gray had warned.
"Something tells me it would've been safer for them to do the mission." Tobirama muttered. This version of Naruto wasn't as easy going as the one he knew. The pink haired mage had certainly dug his own grave with his antics.
"If someone gets hurt, it's on you. Can you live with that?" Sasuke asked the man.
Natsu seemed reluctant to respond. He knew that what he'd seen was definitely something he would do. Now though, he was having different thoughts after seeing how people reacted to his actions. He would still try to take S class missions, but maybe he would need to go about it a different way.
Whatever the case may be, he really hoped his future self could handle it or there would be hell to pay.
His thoughts were broken by the appearance of the book in his lap. A large hand gripped him by the neck and he was forced to begin reading by the furious master.